The Weaver of the Eternal Dream
by EchoKazul
Summary: Wasn't really sure what to rate this, so I'm playing it safe. It's a one-shot fic. I'm not very good at summeries, so I'll just say Isaac and Co. meet a really big spider. shudder I hate spiders! Anyway, please R


This is just a little one-shot fic that kinda popped into my head. I had it take place sometime after TLA, but I suppose it doesn't matter where it goes. It features Isaac (my favorite character), Garet, Ivan, and Mia. This is the first fic I've ever completed, so please be nice! Anybody who flames will be fed to Lady Keer!  
  
I don't own Golden Sun. Camelot does. 'Nuff said.  
  
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Isaac, Ivan, Garet, and Mia watched as the small villagers quickly retreated from the cave, fear obvious on their painted faces. They were each tied soundly to a stone post. Isaac struggled with his ropes to no avail. He sighed and wondered how four strong adepts such as themselves managed to get ambushed by a tribe of stick-wielding, painted midgets. Of course, the sleeping gas the war party had first used as they were camping out didn't help, either. He looked around nervously. He normally didn't mind being in caves, but this one was somehow different. It was dark and damp, and had a strange, sickly-sweet odor, as if death was a frequent visitor here. The silence, however, was the worst. It seemed to be trying to smother them, punishing them for each sound they made. Isaac shook his head. He was probably going crazy, thinking such thoughts!  
  
"Garet, can you burn your way free?" Isaac asked his friend next to him hopefully.  
  
"Don't you think I'm already trying?" Garet asked irritably. "This rope doesn't seem to want to burn!"  
  
"What do you think they meant by 'sacrifices to appease Lady Keer?" Ivan asked them nervously.  
  
Garet snorted. "Probably some big ugly rock deep in the cave they think is a god or something."  
  
Mia nodded. "Garet's probably right. Can you see anything, Isaac?"  
  
Isaac was the furthest one in, and peered into the darkness. "No, I don't....wait. I see...uh-oh."  
  
"What!" Garet demanded.  
  
Isaac looked nervous. "Guys, there's something moving in there!" They all looked at each other apprehensively.  
  
Ivan laughed nervously. "Probably just a rat or something." he said, trying to reassure himself.  
  
They listened tensely, the heavy satin silence seeming to rebound with its own haunting sounds created in their wildly running imaginations. The quiet was shattered by a silky-smooth voice that suddenly echoed through the cavern in a strange sing-song chant.  
  
"Does Lady Keer have company?"  
  
All four adepts whipped their heads around to where the voice was coming from. From out of the darkness stepped a vision that seemed to spawn from only nightmares, a huge, spindly-jointed spider. It was probably as big as Garet was tall, and had a long, slender black and red body with a huge stinger at the end. She had eight legs, clear and dead-looking, whose knobby joints were higher then the rest of her body. The most obvious to the adepts, though were the two long slender fangs that constantly clicked together, and dripped with a thick saliva. That hauntingly smooth voice came from the area of those wicked fangs, but Isaac couldn't see how. Somehow that made it even more frightening.  
  
"Lady Keer has guests! It has been a while since she has had guests, yes, dinner guests."  
  
The nightmarish vision continued to walk towards them, her long legs making a scraping noise on the floor that seemed to echo through the cavern. She continued to talk in that detached sing-song voice, although Isaac couldn't figure out if she was talking to them, or to herself.  
  
"Lady Keer hates to eat alone, that she does. It will be nice to have friends for dinner!" She giggled madly, a sound that made them all shiver.  
  
"Um, Lady Keer, ma'am." Isaac managed to stammer out, gathering up his courage in the face of a nightmare. "Um, we really have to go! You see, it's a matter of 'world safety', and we're the only ones..."  
  
"Go?" Lady Keer wouldn't let him finish, a mock sad tone in her voice. "They want to leave Lady Keer all alone?! But Lady Keer helps them, she does. She is the bringer of the dream! The sweet dream that lingers on for eternity, slowly embracing them in its final sweet kiss and whispering to them of its dark secrets, until slowly, they fall into its misty nothingness!"  
  
She was still heading towards them, and Isaac realized with horror that he could see himself in her mirrored eyes. He was the closest to her, so he shall be her first meal. She advanced to him until she was standing right over him.  
  
"You leave Isaac alone, you buggish freak!" Garet threatened her, "or I'll turn you into a pile of cinders when I get loose!"  
  
She just merely looked at Garet, and he gulped under the gaze of those glassy eyes. "Just wait, impatient one. Your chance to dream will come soon enough!"  
  
She turned back to Isaac, and he suddenly found he couldn't take his eyes off of his own reflection in her mirror eyes. His messy blond hair, his blue eyes, dirt smudged on his face, even his yellow scarf stood out in vivid detail. Every time she move, the reflection would glitter and shift, giving his reflection a life of it's own. She raised one of those long, thin, dead white legs and gently brushed his hair out of his eyes. He shuddered at the touch. She leaned very close to his face, and gave him a gentle kiss with her fangs, not breaking the skin. "Sweet little creature, it has been a long time since Lady Keer has given out her dream. Far too long." He felt horror and fascination at the same time, entranced by the sickly-sweet smell of death that perfumed her, yet he couldn't look away from the blonde, messy-haired boy with the yellow scarf that was trapped in those mirror eyes. He wondered how long the boy had been trapped in there. He looked very familiar, but Isaac, for some reason, couldn't place him. A look of terror was spreading across the dirt-smudged face, the bright blue eyes widening as he struggled to escape the captive prison in the eyes of the spider. Isaac knew how the boy felt. The eyes were about to trap him too. The drew him in further and further. They were deep, so deep.  
  
Keer had been whispering softly the entire time. "Lovely, lovely creature!" she murmured, stoking his cheek gently. He gave an involuntary shuddered at the cold brush "Soon I will give you a dream, and such powerful dream it will be, that it shall pull you deeper and deeper into it until slowly your senses cease to exist, and you will become nothing but a dream yourself."  
  
Isaac stared at the eyes. The other boy was gone. Now he was the sole prisoner of those terrible eyes.  
  
"No!" Mia sobbed. "Isaac!"  
  
Mia's yell broke the trance that Isaac had been in, and he suddenly realized that his hands were free. Keer had been untying him, and was just about to sink her fangs into his neck! He summoned up all of his psyenergy and cast a large Stone Spire, which slammed into her. She was knocked backwards with an ear-piercing shriek that was anything but hypnotizing. Isaac quickly rolled to his feet and, in the same fashion that was his trademark, quickly analyzed the situation. He realized he would not be able to fight a creature like this on his own! They're only hope was if he could untie his friends. Together they would be able to defeat this monster! He grabbed a rusty dagger that was laying in the dirt, a testament of some poor, long-forgotten creature that had stumbled into this cavern and never left, and lunged towards his friends, hoping he could quickly cut through the ropes. One dead-white leg slammed into him in mid-air, however, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling in the dirt. He lost his grip on the dagger, and it landed a few feet in front of him. He scrambled to grab it, but Keer suddenly leapt in front of him.  
  
"So, the dreamer wishes not to sleep?" She said in an eerily soothing voice, as if he were just a naughty boy who didn't want to go to bed.  
  
He dove off to one side and tried to cast Ragnarock, but she was too quick again, and sent him sprawling. Before he could get up this time, she was on top of him.  
  
"Sleep now, my little one!" she whispered, and Isaac felt a quick sharp pain in his shoulder. Then, suddenly, his muscles relaxed, and he went limp, completely unable to move. "There we go, my little dreamer. On silent wings the eternal dream comes to carry you off! And Lady Keer only requires the dreamer joins her as she dines. Come, lovely, delicious creature, for dinner has long been delayed for Lady Keer." she said soothingly.  
  
Isaac was lying on his side, facing the entry, and consequently, his friends. Through half closed eyes, Isaac could see the horror on their faces, and he realized suddenly that he was going to die. Keer was silent now, leaning over him, and there was suddenly a pain in his side. Unlike before, though, this one didn't go away. It was a constant, piercing pain that slowly seemed to drain his very spirit. Lady Keer was finally having her meal. The world was slowly becoming a foggy black. He could hear Mia crying, Ivan shouting, and Garet yelling something, but he no longer cared. He felt so weak, and was getting weaker by the second. His eyes glazed over. He no longer had the energy to fight. He just wanted to sleep. To sleep and to dream. To fall into this dream and stay forever.  
  
"Isaac!"  
  
The female voice cut through the darkness he was sinking in. At first he thought it was Mia, but then realized it was different. It spoke again.  
  
"Isaac, listen to me! You can't die like this! Fight!"  
  
The voice was so beautiful, like the whisper of the earth itself.  
  
"You can do this! Fight to live! I will give you the strength, only please, fight!"  
  
The voice had an urgency in it, and Isaac desperately wanted to obey it, but he had no strength left, and couldn't move.  
  
"Please, don't give up now! The world still needs you! Your friends still need you! Fight back!"  
  
He decided he didn't care how much it took, he had to obey the voice! Gathering every last bit of strength he had left, he tried to fight out of the darkness. At first it was too overpowering, then the voice whispered again.  
  
"Keep on fighting, Isaac! I will give you the strength!"  
  
Suddenly a golden strength began flowing though him, and he struggled towards consciousness.  
  
"Fight!" he whispered, and, with a jolt, realized he had total control of his body again. He twisted around and kicked Keer as hard as he could off of him. She flew back again, and lunged back to her feet. She was almost speechless as Isaac stood before her.  
  
"No!" she whispered. "How can my dreamer wake up?! And with such strength!" She grew furious, and lunged at him, fangs gleaming.  
  
"Fight, fight back!" The golden voice still echoed through Isaac's mind. He gathered up the new energy flowing through him, and yelled out, "Earth's Shield!" A golden aura gather around him, similar to the one his djinn Granite had often used. Keer slammed into the glowing shield at full speed, bounce off and landed awkwardly in a tangle of legs. The transparent shield retracted, but the golden glow still surrounded Isaac. He glared at Lady Keer. He wasn't done yet. He stood in front of her, glowing slightly, and she looked up at him in fear. Yes, the great Keer, the Queen of Death and Bringer of the Eternal Dream, was afraid of this young human that refused to die. "Gaia's Hammer!" Isaac yelled. He pulled his fist back, as if holding a hammer, ready to strike. The cavern began to rumble, and huge rocks flew up from the walls and floor, and began to fuse together behind Isaac. When they became the size of a large boulder, he suddenly swung his empty fist over his head with all his might, as if attacking with his invisible hammer. The large boulder followed, as if it were the hammerhead, and Keer gave out one last shriek before the boulder slammed into ground she lay, sinking halfway in the ground and causing a heavy shudder among the entire cavern. Isaac stood there, breathing heavily, and stared dumbly at the boulder. Silence echoed for a few seconds. It was finished.  
  
"Well done, my champion." the voice whispered, and was gone.  
  
He felt the energy rush out of his body, and he felt tired and weak. So incredibly weak. He turned to his friends, their mouths hanging open, took one step towards them, then crumpled to the ground.  
  
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"Do you think he's dead?"  
  
"For the last time, Ivan, I don't know!"  
  
"Stop arguing, you two! We need to work on freeing ourselves! We can't help him from way over here!"  
  
Slowly the voices began to permeate Isaac's clouded mind. He wondered what had happened to make him feel so awful. He couldn't remember anything at the moment. He groaned and rolled onto his back. Instantly the chatter stopped.  
  
"He's alive!" Garet's voice yelled out, making him wince.  
  
"Oh, please, Garet. Don't yell." Isaac moaned, and he struggled to sit up.  
  
"Isaac, are you okay?" Mia's voice was quite a bit gentler, and Isaac opened one eye.  
  
"I don't know. I feel like I've been dragged downhill by a rockslide, and buried in a ton of rocks, but other then that, I think I'm okay."  
  
He tried to stand up, but grew dizzy and fell down again.  
  
"Isaac, don't push it too fast!" Mia warned him.  
  
Isaac glanced over at them and realized they were still tied up.  
  
"I need to get you guys untied." he said a little groggily. He saw a rusty knife lying down next to a boulder that was halfway embedded in the ground. He briefly wondered how that boulder got there, but shrugged it off and stood up again. He waited for the dizzy spell to pass, then went over and picked up the knife. He rested against the boulder for a moment, then slowly made his way towards his friends. He half-sat half-collapsed next to Mia, then reached over and used the dagger to cut through her ropes. The moment the rope snapped, she brought her hands in front of her, rubbing her sore wrists, then reached over and placed one hand on his forehead.  
  
"Are you sure you're okay? We thought you were dead! Twice! What happened, anyways?"  
  
Isaac groaned. "I was hoping you guys could tell me. I don't remember!"  
  
Mia looked at him, worried. "You don't remember?"  
  
Isaac shook his head and instantly regretted that move. "All I remember is being captured by the weird little villagers, being tied up in here, and vaguely of a giant spider trying to eat me!" He looked at her. "How'd I survive that, anyway?"  
  
She was about to answer, but Garet interrupted her. "Hello!? We're still tied up here!"  
  
"Oh, sorry!" Mia apologized.  
  
She took the knife from Isaac, as he didn't feel like moving around a whole lot at the moment, and cut Ivan and Garet loose. They walked over to where Isaac was sitting, rubbing their wrists. Mia and Ivan explained what had happened, with Garet adding the occasional comment.  
  
"And then you just looked at us and stopped glowing. And then you just collapsed!" Mia told him.  
  
"Yeah, and we were stuck being tied up for hours!" Garet complained. "I had lost all feeling in my hands!"  
  
Ivan looked thoughtful. "Say, Isaac! Do you still know those new moves you used on Keer?"  
  
Isaac thought for a moment as he mentally cycled through his psyenergy inventory. He shook his head. "Nope. I have no clue on how I did those."  
  
Garet was disappointed. "Man, that Gaia's Hammer was pretty neat. Just think! If another buffoon comes around trying to take over the world, Bam! He would be buried at the bottom of a two-ton boulder!"  
  
They all shook their heads at Garet's enthusiasm. Isaac then remember something.  
  
"Hey, I remember a voice!"  
  
Ivan looked at him. "A voice?" Isaac nodded. "Yeah! I remember sinking into a black pit." He looked thoughtful. "I think I was dying. Anyway, a beautiful voice suddenly came out of nowhere and started telling me to fight." Isaac slowed as he remembered something else. "She told me that she would give me strength if I kept fighting!"  
  
Mia thought over this last bit of information. "So, this was really the mysterious girl fighting, through you?"  
  
Isaac shrugged wearily. "I don't know. Sounds like it!"  
  
Mia looked at his exhausted face, worried. "You really need to rest, Isaac. You don't look so good."  
  
Isaac struggled to his feet. "Let's get out of here first, then I'll take a nap."  
  
They agreed, as this place still reeked of death, and they didn't want to stay any longer then necessary. Garet helped him walk, and they left the cavern behind. The boulder stood embedded in the ground, tombstone of Lady Keer, the queen finally joined with the dreams she took such delight in.  
  
"You know," Garet commented. "Felix, Jenna, Sheba, and Picard are never going to believe us."  
  
Ivan snorted. "Whose stupid idea was it to split up into two groups anyway."  
  
Garet shoved him with the arm that wasn't supporting Isaac. "Oh, come on! You just miss Sheba!"  
  
"As much as you miss Jenna!" Ivan retorted.  
  
Mia rolled her eyes. "Can you two ever stop fighting?!"  
  
Isaac smiled as his friends bickered. He suddenly remembered the last thing the voice had said to him.  
  
"Well done, my champion!"  
  
Isaac smiled to himself as realization dawned on him. "Thank you, Lady Venus."  
  
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Watch'ya think? I HATE spiders, and was watching one the other day. YUCK! Then I started imagining how the fly must feel, and I, who obviously has too much free time, came up with this.  
  
BTW, I made up Gaia's Hammer. I thought that it would be a cool Venus psyenergy. Isaac doesn't really have it in the game. He doesn't have Earth's Shield either, as far as I know, but now that I think of it, I think there's a shield by that name that you can get at Tolbi springs. 


End file.
